White House blocks foreign aid funds, demands accounting

For the second year in a row, the White House appears to be considering canceling billions of dollars in appropriated foreign aid funding at a time when Congress would be hard-pressed to block such a move.

Over the weekend, the Office of Management and Budget wrote to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development directing the foreign aid agency to cease spending for a range of programs that still have unobligated fiscal 2018 and 2019 balances and would otherwise expire if not spent by Sept. 30.

The amount of affected money could total as much as $4 billion, foreign aid advocates say, or 7 percent of the $55.2 billion that lawmakers originally allocated over the last two fiscal years for a broad range of public health, peacekeeping, development and diplomacy programs now being scrubbed by the administration.

By seeking to temporarily freeze the balances of the foreign aid accounts until after the OMB understands how much money is left in each of them, the letter could be a precursor to putting together a potential package of funding cancellations, known as “rescissions.”

Under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, the White House can submit a package of rescissions for congressional approval, which must occur within 45 days of “continuous session,” not counting three or more consecutive days in recess. During the initial 45-day period, the targeted funds can’t be obligated by the particular agency or agencies affected; if Congress doesn’t act during that period, the funds have to be released.